HVAC expert James Smithell discusses how homeowners can avoid bad ductless heat pump installations by recognizing contractor red flags. He explains the importance of proper Manual J load calculations to size systems correctly and warns against contractors who simply estimate based on room counts or square footage. The conversation also covers high-pressure sales tactics, including quotes that are “only good today,” and why choosing the lowest price can lead to poor installation quality. Smithell encourages homeowners to ask technical questions, verify installer experience, and get multiple quotes to ensure they select a knowledgeable contractor who designs the right system for their home.
John Maher: Hi, I am John Maher and I’m here today with James Smithell of New England Heat Pump Company, a locally owned and family operated company with over 20 years of experience in the HVAC industry, specializing in Mitsubishi heat pumps and ductless heating and cooling systems. Welcome, Jimmy.
James Smithell: Thanks for having me on, John.
Contractor Red Flags when Installing Heat Pumps
John: Sure, Jimmy. Today we’re going to be talking about contractor red flags in the heat pump industry and how to avoid a bad ductless install when a homeowner gets a quote. What are some of the biggest red flags that the contractors maybe more focused on just closing the sale rather than designing the right system for you and your home?
Jimmy: Yeah, we see this a lot. I would say a lot of the times I talk to homeowners and it’s really gut feeling, right? Go with your instinct. I always tell my customers gut feeling is always never going to do you wrong. We see this every day, right? We see a lot of contractors getting into the HVAC trades, everything from framers to electricians to plumbers. Yeah. So, I’d say go with your gut. A couple of key things that you can really point out, I guess if they’re going to be in the house is if they’re not doing a proper manual J of the house, that’s first and foremost, we really…
John: Have to, what’s the manual J?
Jimmy: Yeah, we really have to know what the house needs. A manual J is a scan that we would do, essentially a scan that we would do of the house, and it creates us a blueprint of the house and a better understanding of the load. So what does the house need to actually heat? It measures everything from windows to insulation to square footage.
So, important that we look at that because without that, we really can’t go any further with selecting the proper equipment. Equip, equip. I’d really say start with a manual J load calculation. And then the second part of that is to be able to be knowledgeable enough to select the equipment to really fit into that manual J, right? Again, we see a lot of contractors going into a house for many splits, for instance, and just counting rooms, right? Five rooms. It needs a five zone condenser or something like that, and it’s just it’s way either oversized or undersized for the actual load of the house that the manual J is producing.
Getting Exact Calculations from a Manual J
John: Alright? So they should be talking about that. That would be a sign you want to ask your contractor, Hey, what size system do I need in my house? And they should be pointing out that manual J calculation and showing you, yeah, this is the correct size system for your home. Not just estimating it and looking around like you said, and saying, oh, you have five bedrooms, so it should be this.
Jimmy: Yeah, so important. And we have a lot of the old school HVAC tradesmen that’ll just go with a square footage number. We used to see a lot of 40 BTU per square foot or whatever that contractor came up with that day, I guess. And now with the software that we have, we can really dig into what does the house truly need? And what we’ve learned over the years is those 40 BTU per square foot, whatever, those numbers are completely out to launch. They’re not even close to what the house needs, and we just see systems completely oversized and undersized. We see this every day, unfortunately.
Factoring in Room Construction for Estimates
John: Because so much relies on whether you have windows and what type of windows and what type of insulation you have and the thickness of the walls and all kinds of things like that, right?
Jimmy: Yeah. Room construction too. Think about that. So let’s say you have a big family room in your house, that’s a total different load than you could say, like a little office space. So, if you’re trying to size that system for one piece is a total different load from one of those rooms to the other, and we really need to learn what that is in order to quote the system to fit that.
Avoiding High-Pressure Sales
John: Okay. We talk about high pressure sales in a lot of industries. What does high pressure look like in HVAC sales and why is that risky?
Jimmy: Yeah, we’re seeing this so much right now. I would say I’ve been doing this a long time. I would say since the Mass Save, really the mass save push with these big rebates, and I’m sure we’ll get into that a little bit more. We’ve seen a lot of fly by night contractors coming into this industry, just kind of cashing in for the rebate push is what we’re seeing.
We’re seeing a lot of really salesy type people, not knowledgeable with the trades or even construction. The first thing I would say again is just go with your gut. If somebody’s going to come into your house and doesn’t even know about the construction of a house to begin with, let alone the AC system, they’re probably not going to be your right choice. I mean, these people should really be knowledgeable. I mean, the rule that I have at my company is to go out and look at a house, you need to have worked in the field for at least three years with hands-on experience to even be able to go out and look and quote at their job.
That piece of it is just so important and a lot of the time it goes on looked at. So, that’s really first and foremost, I would say make sure you’re comfortable with the person in your house. Make sure they’re knowledgeable with just building construction. They can’t tell you what a jospin is or an electric meter or a hundred amps versus 200 amps. It’s a disaster. You sign in the dotted line and it’s a failure. When the guys come to do the install, we see it every day.
So, a couple of things with high pressure sales that you can really call it out. They sit you at the table, these people will sit you at the table and put a quote in front of you. It’s some astronomical number and it’s everything. And anything to get you to sign on the dotted line from, call your husband, call your wife to lemme call my manager to get you a discount, but it’s only good for today.
It’s crazy. I mean, I would recommend as a business owner getting a few other quotes, getting a knowledge of what people are saying and selecting the company that you’re comfortable with. I mean, we all want the business, and I tell my customers this all the time. I want the business for the right reasons. I don’t want to sell you a system just because that’s what the other guy said that you need. And then you’re unhappy with that system. So, I would say again, gut feeling is everything.
If you feel like you’re being high pressured at the table and you’re going to see it in this market right now today, get a few quotes. Do not sign in the dotted line at the table. I as a business owner, recommend getting a few quotes. I know that sounds crazy, but I’m comfortable with the knowledge that we have to be able to have you get other quotes. And a lot of the times, these other contractors will sell me that job because again, they’re going to send in a salesy type guy that’s just, you’re going to read it is what I recommend.
Pressure to Sign Today
John: So, you want to watch out for them to sit down, like you said at the table and start saying, yeah, here’s your quote, but it’s only good for today. You have to sign on the dotted line right now. Things like that.
Jimmy: You got it. And I’m not saying we don’t sit at the table. I want to show ’em the system that we’re creating. Sometimes with the information that we gather at our level, we can’t do that all same day. We’d love to, but sometimes we just have to sit down and do a lot of math and a lot of figuring out. But if we do sit you down to the table, it’s more to show you options of what’s available for your house and what hits your needs and pros and cons.
You really have to talk about all that stuff. Sometimes it’s not all upside. Sometimes you have to talk about operating cost or what you have today versus what we’re going to give you. All that stuff really has to be talked about, not just, ma’am, sir, sign on the dotted line and let’s roll the vans tomorrow. It’s just pause for a minute and think about things, right?
Should You Go With the Lowest Price?
John: So, when you do get multiple quotes, sometimes you might want to just go with the lowest price. Why is that maybe not a good idea in ductless? What are some of the corners that get cut first by those companies that are just giving you the absolute rock bottom price?
Jimmy: Again? So we’re seeing everything and everything right now from, again, plumbers to builders to electricians to everything between installing HVAC, right? They can put it together, but I’m telling you, a year later when my professional team is out fixing drains and taking mold out of ceilings, it’s a disaster. So, I would tell you not to just look at the numbers, right? Get your quotes. I’m not telling you to go with something that’s $30,000 more, but also don’t always just go to the lowest, right?
We’re seeing a lot of eCommerce in this industry right now, which is like an Amazon for HVAC, right? You find a system online, they’ll tell you, Hey, five zone system is X amount of dollars, and you hit select and then they find subcontractors local to you and they vet them, and you just don’t know what you’re getting, right? These people show up, and I’ve seen everything from condensers dug into the side of a hill to electrical run with wires hanging out of the systems. Again, just pause and just think about not only the price tag, but the quality because high quality is still out there and my company stands behind that 100%.
Steps Involved with an Assessment for a Heat Pump
John: So, just go through some of the steps that you take when you have a home visit, an initial assessment of a house, and what should that visit include?
Jimmy: Yeah, it really starts with the conversation with the homeowner. We introduce ourselves and I say, let’s have a conversation. Let’s sit at the table and let’s go over why we’re here. What are the problems? How can we help? And there’s a whole checklist that we’ll bring in. What are you using today to heat and cool your home? Are you cooling your home? What type of fuel do you heat with? Is it oil? Is it propane? Is it electric resistance? Then we kind of get into, okay, what are the goals and assumptions on that system and how can we improve it?
So, it really just starts with that honest and open conversation, and then we’ll walk the house. We’ll take a manual J, we’ll get very detailed with that. You should really be looking at electric panels and meters. You should really have somebody knowledgeable enough to tell you, Hey, Mrs. Jones, this electric panel is not enough for what we’re looking to do here, or even anything that needs to be updated. Again, we’re seeing a lot of companies selling the systems and then sending out a foreman that knows this stuff and then the wholesale goes upside down. So again, gut feeling, and I would just say be comfortable with who you have in your home is my recommendation on that.
Questions to Ask Your Installer
John: Are there a few questions that a homeowner can ask that might instantly kind of separate a real installer from just a salesperson?
Jimmy: Yeah, totally. I would say 99.9% of these installers don’t know measurements of systems. As crazy as it sounds, we’ve gone into these houses and Mrs. Jones tells me that this contractor says, well, we’re going to put this here and this year. And I’m like, pause. Lemme get my tape measure out and show you why. That’s not a good idea, or that can’t even happen. Yeah. So that question right there is usually a heavy hitter. Ask them the measurements, put ’em on the spot.
If they can’t answer those right off the top of their head, I could tell you every measurement from every unit that we carry off the top of head, all of my guys can do the same thing. Ask questions like, have you ever installed, have you ever been in the construction industry? What type of background do you have? Is it just sales or do you have some knowledge in the space? Those type of questions right there will get you pretty far and get you either stumbled, right, stumbled answers or confident answers. And you’d be able to tell right then and there in my opinion.
What if Someone Already Signed with a Shady Installer?
John: So if someone already signed a contract with an installer and now they’re kind of feeling uneasy about it, what steps should they take next?
Jimmy: Yeah, I say look at the rules and the laws in whatever state that is. We don’t see this a lot. I don’t high pressure sales at the table, so we honestly don’t see this a lot. I know Massachusetts has protection and laws against on the side of the consumer. I think it’s a three day law, but again, a lot of these contractors are coming in and saying, we’re going to roll a van tomorrow. So again, I would say just be careful with who you select at the table and don’t let ’em high pressure you into it.
Yeah, I mean, I would say there’s, I think a three-day law in Massachusetts, Massachusetts, and there’s probably restocking fees and things like that, whatever they have in their contract. I don’t have much in my contract to say that if somebody wants to cancel with me, I would hundred percent happily give them money back. Again, I want business for the right reasons. I’m not going to twist somebody’s arm to make them do business with me. It’s just, it’s bad business in my opinion. But there are laws that protect you from state to state.
John: Alright, well that’s really great information, Jimmy. Thanks again for speaking with me today.
Jimmy: Thanks again, John.
John: And for more information, you can visit the New England Heat Pump Company website at neheatpumpco.com.
